The tree was easy to assemble, but it looked terrible at first. The "pencil" shape wasn't as narrow as it looks in the photo. The branches were spread apart wide and you could see the pole down its center. Also, each of the boughs needed to be unfurled and spread open. (BTW, some of the individual needles are pink, not white.) Once that was done, I had to bend the middle of each of the branches so that the tree would stand more narrow and get the look I wanted. This also hid the middle pole from view. In the end, the tree now looks pretty much like I had in mind. I don't mind that the tree has a pinkish tinge, but my husband does.